Bad news for Dutch dogs, they're still taxable

Daisy, a Yorkshire Terrier, has caught a ball in the toddler bath of swimming pool Mirandabad in Amsterdam, on September 2, 2009. (OLAF KRAAK/AFP/Getty Images)

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch judges who ruled that taxing dog owners is discriminatory were apparently barking up the wrong tree.

The Netherlands' Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court's decision that the southern municipality of Sittard-Geleen illegally discriminated against owners of man's best friend by levying a dog tax.

Opponents of the tax argued it was unfair to levy fees on them as opposed to people who don't own dogs because the money raised goes into the general budget of municipalities.

But the Supreme Court says municipalities are entitled to tax dog ownership because they have to pick up the bill for keeping public parks and streets clean.

Government statistics show dog taxes raise well over 50 million euros ($68 million) a year total for the Dutch municipalities with such levies.